Will Cullen Hart: co-founder of the legendary Elephant 6 Recording Co., musician of Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System, co-founder of the Cloud Recordings label, multi-talented visual artist and so much more than you can put a label on. Hart died from a heart attack on Nov. 29, 2024, at the age of 53. The Ruston, LA-born creative artist made a home in Athens and had a lasting impact on the community and lives of people across the nation—some through their interactions with him, but many more just through the music he played. Flagpole columnist Gordon Lamb wrote a heartfelt piece after Hart’s death in the Dec. 4 issue. Now we share submissions from his loved ones ahead of the event A Celebration of the Joyful Life of W. Cullen Hart at the 40 Watt Club on Mar. 29 with performances by Elf Power, Giant Day, The Rishis, Robert Schneider, Scott Spillane, John Fernandes, Heather McIntosh, Marshmallow Coast and more. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. with the show at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door with all proceeds benefitting Nuçi’s Space. [Sam Lipkin]
Will Cullen Hart was my lifelong friend and collaborator. I loved him passionately. We grew up together in Ruston, LA, and co-founded the Elephant 6 Recording Co. in our early twenties. He was a genius experimental and psychedelic pop musician, and a brilliant and prolific visual artist who sketched and made collage art every second of every day, on every object within reach. He was a lifelong four-tracker, tape looper, spontaneous poet, sound collage constructor, deconstructionist of musical instruments and a very talented composer of pop songs since we were teenagers.
We met in sixth grade at a Cheap Trick concert in Ruston, through our mutual friends (and future E6 collaborators) Joey Foreman and Jeff Mangum. We wrote songs and made paintings and recordings together for our whole lives. “I love you, baby,” he beamed as I waved out the car window last August and rolled out of his driveway. I replay that memory over and over. Oh Will, I love you, too.
Will was co-leader of the Olivia Tremor Control with Bill Doss (another of my dearest friends and collaborators), bandleader of the Circulatory System, and was the spiritual leader of the Elephant 6 art community that exploded in Athens in the mid-1990s. Will and I dreamed up Elephant 6 together in 1992, driving around listening to Beach Boys and Syd Barrett in the countryside outside of Athens, planning a lo-fi revolution with our friends. We wrote the E6 manifesto together. Will came up with the name Elephant 6—I added “Recording Co.”—and he drew the beautiful logo that I got tattooed on my right arm (now blue and faded with age). He was my constant creative partner from our teens up to the present day, my dear friend, roommate, bandmate, and we pursued a vision of art and music together our whole life that we hatched as children—together. Will was infinitely chatty, infinitely funny, infinitely expressive, infinitely creative. He was energetic, sweet, tender, earnest, alternately chill and explosive. He was infinitely loved and admired by me, by his collaborator Bill Doss, who passed away 12 years ago—”Bill has gone to the mountains,” Will said at the time—and by his bandmates and the Elephant 6 and Athens communities.
My dear friend, my brother, my co-conspirator, my E6 co-founder, I have always loved you and will always love you with the same intensity I had when we were young. You were so amazing, I can’t even believe you existed. I will miss your love and your humor and your energy and your brilliance forever. I will forever be grateful for your friendship and your love—my sweet friend and my greatest artistic influence. May your journey to the mountains be beautiful.
Robert Schneider
The Apples in Stereo
I first moved to Athens in 2010 to begin working on a book about Will and his friends. My plan was to spend some time getting to know everybody before I started recording anything, as I had mostly only known these folks from their records, and they didn’t know me at all. I figured it would take time to build trust with a famously publicity-averse group of musicians. Not so with Will.
I arrived at Will’s house for the first time toward the drowsy end of a 48-hour stretch he’d spent without sleeping, but he greeted me with the enthusiasm of a sugar-high 12-year-old intent on telling me about roughly three dozen different artists he was excited about that day (including an obscure musique concrete recording I’ve never been able to track down elsewhere). Will knew firsthand what music—not just making it, but sharing it, too—can do for a person, and so that was his baseline state: wired for connection.
I came to spend more time with Will than I did with anyone else while I was in Athens, including more than a year as his roommate, but that first afternoon listening to music with him was so moving—his warmth, his excitability, his breadth of music knowledge, his clutter—that I wrote a few pages about it as soon as I got home. It was the first piece of Endless Endless I ever wrote, and what appears on the printed page today looks basically identical to that handwritten first draft.
Will’s foremost trait was his generosity, sharing whatever he was excited about (or just whatever he had) with pretty much whoever was around. It felt special to be around him, not because he made me feel unique, but because his unfiltered, equal-opportunity gregariousness is itself so rare. He knew what made his life feel rich, and he was always happy to give it away.
Adam Clair
Author of Endless Endless: A Lo-Fi History of the Elephant 6 Mystery
When I first began work on a documentary about Elephant 6, I didn’t have a very complete understanding of who made up the collective or what it was all about. Robert Schneider suggested that I go to Athens and meet Will Hart, and that everything would soon make sense.
That first trip felt like an anthropological experiment. Stepping into Will’s home was like being transported into a world of vibrating, loosely controlled creative chaos. All of my senses were bombarded. Here was a person truly living the life of an artist. Totally committed. Someone unabashedly being their true and complete self.
Beyond the colorful paintings and esoteric instruments what stood out to me was the warmth of his invitation to join him in this world. In that moment I began to understand how these ragtag kids from Ruston, LA were able to gather and collect so many disparate personalities under the banner of “The Elephant 6 Recording Co.” The art and the community went hand in hand. The attractive force of his magnetism was undeniable.
Will’s special spark called out like a beacon to creatives and other folks walking to a rhythm not quite in-step with the mainstream. His art and music explored the most intimate personal feelings and the biggest philosophical ideas, often arriving at the place where those two intersect. He was alien and deeply human. I was proud to call him a friend.
Chad Stockfleth
Director of The Elephant 6 Recording Co. (2022)
For/From Will
Foundation movement,
5 more yellow minutes.
Audio pilots are all ears, just listen. Your friends of word and pictures, nominate them.
Parameters of the pyramid, they sing again! They play again!
There are always signs, codes, and symbols which appear to musicians… the museum of mud… composers favorite interpretations… assemble anything you want to.
Gold voices sing light-music of the past at the keyboard and songs of the Metronome.
All-Star bands, famous duets, full-realization Swan-network developing.
The people of the sky, earth, waters, and the mountains, parallel lives, parachute-sized drops, stems of measurement outside the frame of the picture entirely.
The birds at a glance, red Sea albums, optical craftsman, the book of instructions… for further information or free color catalogs, write to: Tilty Company/ World On Time.
Waves from very tiny objects, three-dimensions working on the “upstairs.”
Our heroes the worm and the ant, a multitude of miscellaneous parts—some of quite ancient origin—as we float along into the next world or two, you’ll see.
Derek Almstead
The Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System
If you talked to Will once, if it was interesting enough for him to have truly engaged in it, you were undoubtedly confused. When I first met him, I left certain he’d told me we had met before, on Youtube; I was equally certain I had no idea what this meant. There’d been a knowing gesture accompanying the words; I did not know what it knew. The exchange stuck with me, as I imagine did many’s interactions with Will, be they sparked thoughts thrown off in passing or the full breadth of his full mental and interpersonal attention working wholly in concert. This was majestic, otherworldly shit. To the un-attuned, it was cacophony; it was “Rite of Spring” performed for the first time, an incongruent mishmash of things not meant to be heard together, a cyclonic barrage indecipherable to the mere human ear; it was batshit wild, man. But anyone fortunate enough to have partaken of sufficient enough these take-a-walk-on-the-wild-fireside chats to become “fluent in Will” realized this was no weird guy not firing on all cylinders, or the product of MS hampering cognition—no, this was genuinely communicating at a higher level, a more complex and multi-faceted type of conveyance that went beyond our, frankly, pretty lame sentences with just, like… words, and maybe sometimes a standard issue facial template shape for added effect. This was words, yes, but not always moving linearly; there were sounds, onomatopoeia to some extent, but others for different thematic effects; it was ever-aware of itself and reflexive in that, self-referential while winking at the self reference, which had in fact informed something said… before the reference… such that what might normally be written on a line going left to right, like this, could really only be depicted (should one try) as sort of a constantly compounding swirl of flotsam, jetsam and apparent utter bedlam not dissimilar to the dust that followed Pigpen in the Charlie Brown animated films, or a particularly fierce monsoon spiraling inwardly while expanding outwardly, careening about the inter-dimensional surrealism of peak-era weird Bermuda Triangle. Which, while I don’t recall ever specifically discussing, is an area I feel quite confident Will would’ve had some thoughts on. I’ll be sure to ask him when we meet again, back on YouTube.
AJ Griffin
The Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System
In the Olivia Tremor Control world, Will and I were so close. We worked not only on the Olivia Tremor Control material together, but also the experimental side-project, Black Swan Network. We would burn CD-Rs for each other of musique concrete composers, free jazz, German kosmic music, etc. Many of his CD-Rs for me included handmade artwork. When the Olivia Tremor Control took a break in late 1999 or early 2000, we put together the project Circulatory System, and released it on our own label, Cloud Recordings. Those early days of Cloud Recordings were a bunch of work for me because we didn’t have an exclusive distributor or press agent. I borrowed $8,000 from my mom (the money I was supposed to use to go to college), and $4,000 from my wife (at the time), and bought Will some home-recording equipment. We also paid for studio time to do overdubs on his home recordings. I pressed a bunch of CDs and was going directly to a bunch of different record stores and distributors, and was also doing all the call-backs for the press myself. I had young kids at the time, and the almost overwhelming amount of work put stress on our marriage. But it turned out successful, and now 24 years later and 38 releases in, Cloud Recordings is still trying to create an impact. Will and I bonded over our love of adventurous music, and created some really special music together. He will be missed, but will live on in our memories of the good times we had together. I love you, Will!
John Fernandes
The Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, Cloud Recordings
Will and I met at a party in Athens in the mid-1990s where Olivia Tremor Control played. The band’s performance was an awe-inspiring psychedelic blowout, and I became an instant fan. We traded records and realized that we were both home recording enthusiasts, and that our bands were some of the only bands in Athens at that time that were home recording our albums on 4-track cassette, at a time when most bands opted to record in fancier “pro” studios.
We recorded on each others’ albums, did many tours together all over the world, and we also lived together as roommates for a few years in the late 1990s to early 2000s on Reese Street, where Will still lived up until his death. Those were a great few years living together. Living was cheap, so we had plenty of time to devote to recording. My portion of the rent there was $110 per month. We recorded several songs together that were never released, that finally will be coming out as an EP later this year.
I remember once, as we were having coffee in the morning, telling Will about a strange dream that I’d had the night before involving a chicken that had two human old man wizardly faces, one on each side of its head. Later that week Will presented me with a painting that he’d done of the bizarre dream creature that looked strangely accurate to the chicken/human hybrid from the dream! It still hangs in my room to this day, and I think of Will every time I see it.
Will was always fun to travel with on tour as he was always playing great music on the stereo, and making everyone laugh with his stream-of-consciousness, surreal dada rants that would literally go on for many, many hours. On one particularly long West Coast nighttime drive, Scott Spillane was so tired of Will’s lengthy rant that he would only periodically reply with the terse statement, “acknowledged,” when Will looked to him for a response.
In December 2017, I was driving from a family Christmas gathering in Arkansas to another Christmas gathering in Texas, and I stopped at a gas station in rural Arkansas to refuel. As I was using the bathroom, I heard Will’s unmistakable voice behind me saying “Andrew?” and turned to see Will bouncing up and down in excitement at randomly running into me so far from home. He and his wife Kelly were driving back to Athens after visiting family in Louisiana, and it was a joyful random meeting, seeing my old friend by chance so far from home.
I miss my friend so much, and already in the few months since he has died, I have had to stop myself several times from texting him something funny that I know he’d enjoy. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s true that we will always have his music, and the Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System albums are without a doubt some of the best music recorded by anybody ever.
Andrew Rieger
Elf Power
Will: Maven of the imaginary, animator of synthetic natures, purveyor of jurassic technologies, perverter of nonsense syllables, pundit of inappropriate laughter, jester to expectations, acute listener to what could and cannot be heard, friend to all freaks, seer of positivity in cynicism, tireless supporter of all manner of absurdity, courageous liver of trepidatious life, thanks for donning your simian self and taking us along for a frantic, spectacular spin.
Davey Wrathgabar
Elf Power
I first collaborated with Will in Bill Doss’ The Observatory, a lineup of E6-ers and collaborators of The Sunshine Fix back in 2006 for an R.E.M. tribute at the 40 Watt in Athens… But it wasn’t until a recent Elf Power tour in the summer of 2023 that I felt a strong urge to ask Will if he’d paint something on my drumhead. I reached out to Kelly Hart, and Will gladly made this beautiful art. In return I offered to pay, but Kelly came up with an idea that was even better and meant to be. Instead, barter with Will and record with him.
Thank you, Kelly! This started a beautiful trajectory into Will’s stratosphere. I’ve never witnessed CREATIVITY like this. In any given moment he could filter creative energies of lyric, visual art and giant ranges of melody. Sometimes all at once. I was in awe. Will and I laughed, drank coffee, shared music and talked about life as if we’d known one another forever. We shared our love for Bill. He was funny, kind, creative and supportive with a sense of young at heart exuberance. Man, I’m so lucky to be on this planet at the same time with you and call you my friend. R.I.P. brother.
Peter Alvanos
Elf Power
Will became my friend when he moved to Denver. Robert had talked about him endlessly, always with such admiration, that by the time Will arrived, my excitement—and expectations—were sky-high. I was also a little nervous. But by that first evening, I already felt like he was family, which meant a lot to me as someone naturally shy and reserved.
At the time, Robert and I were deep in the world of the Apples, caught up in a whirlwind of creativity. We spent countless nights dreaming up ideas for Elephant 6, eager to start something new. But beyond all of that, Will became a true friend.
He’d drive me around Denver in his minivan, music always playing. We’d thrift, dig through record shops, and just explore. He had this infectious energy—so full of passion, so intense in the best way. He made me laugh constantly, and his enthusiasm for the things he loved was inspiring.
Our nights stretched into the early hours, filled with talking, laughing, drawing and inventing ridiculous characters—some of which, let’s just say, you couldn’t put into print. Even after the rest of us crashed, Will would stay up, sketching and listening to music. I could never match his stamina.
We shared an almost identical taste in music, even more so than Robert and I, and that connection deepened our bond. We were always introducing each other to new finds, constantly feeding off that creative spark.
Looking back, it was a magical time. Will inspired me, and for that, I’ll always be grateful.
Hilarie Bratset
The Apples in Stereo
Will Hart was not only the greatest psychedelic pop/musical collage creator of our time, but he was also funny, caring, kind and just a sweetheart of a human.
We last talked the night before he “went to the mountains” at 10:28 p.m.
I first met Will in 1999, and we quickly bonded over our love of psych-pop, Syd Barrett, Brian Eno, The Minutemen and Faust. A 25-plus-year friendship.
He spoke in clicks, buzzes and rapid-fire references, his mind racing ahead of his words. Keeping up was a challenge—by the time you got it, he was already onto something new. Much like his music, it’s when you take the magnifying glass and get really deep inside you reveal the beauty. Sometimes it only reveals itself if you take a giant step back, and sometimes you must do both at the same time to fully grasp it.
His entire musical and artistic output can and must be seen as a whole, all interchangeable, interlocking and microscopically rendered pieces of true ART.
Will’s immense body of visual artwork speaks for itself. Combinations, recurring themes (crowns, birds, flags, clouds) and his insane use of lines, shading and color. We have a more beautiful world to look at thanks to Will.
Will kept his loved ones close and made sure we knew we were loved.
The Olivia Tremor Control and Circulatory System albums not only changed my life, but changed so many lives and will continue to shape the face of pop and psychedelic music for the rest of time. His lyrics were super deep, cosmic and just beautiful. Sure the music is overwhelmingly and sonically brilliant—take some time to turn around and listen to the words. A true poet of the highest order.
WCH, we will love you forever.
Ron Kwasman
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s
If anyone embodied the quote “Art is not a thing, it is a way,” it’s Will. Let’s acknowledge that this “way” of art requires others to perform extra work. It seems that Will’s friends were always assistants, editors, engineers, curators and caretakers. But he loved to share the way of art with everyone. The creative payoff was worth the extra work.
He routinely held three conversations at once while also improvising an illustration. Honestly, it frightened me off until 2023 when I steeled my nerves, reached out and found I could work with the firehose of information that blasted from him.
We soon had “Garden of Light” and “The Same Place” finalized and turned to the third Olivia Tremor Control album proper. Many days we would find a reason to say, “Thank you, Bill, my friend,” after remembering a particularly touching phrase or rediscovering a forgotten recording, the result of Bill’s work ethic and devotion.
The week of Will’s death we worked for three necessarily short but important days. That way of art, so natural to him, had finally broken me free of my internal editor. We improvised together, adding color to unfinished music. Then he went outside to smoke a Black & Mild Grape and sang a new song idea (“Orbits”) into my phone. The next day he handed me a cassette with guitar bits he wanted to use. On the shell he wrote “Full! of ideas.” We said goodbye and happy Thanksgiving, both excited to see the Soundtrack released on Black Friday.
To my dear old, new and departed friend Will, I swear I remember everything. I wrote it all down, and I’m going to use all of it. Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for everything.
Jason NeSmith
Pylon Reenactment Society, Mastering Engineer at Chase Park Transduction
Will Hart was a saint. He was one of my favorite artists I ever had the chance to photograph. I didn’t know him back in the ’90s, even though we both moved here around the same time. I loved his band, and after my trip to India in 1998, I spent what felt like the next year in the darkroom printing black and white photos to a soundtrack of Black Foliage by the Olivia Tremor Control. That album was my darkroom album.
I didn’t meet Will until his wife, Kelly, asked me to photograph Circulatory System for Flagpole in the late 2000s. But as soon as we met, we were like old, old friends. It truly felt like we’d known each other the whole time we’d both been in Athens. I photographed him several times during that period and even got to photograph him with the Olivia Tremor Control when they got back together. Will operated on several layers at one time. If you knew him, you know what I mean.
Last Thanksgiving, he was the only person I sent a text to wish a happy Thanksgiving. He passed away the next morning. I didn’t even see his response to my text until I had heard the news. I’ll forever miss getting those six little elephant emojis.
When I say Will was a saint, that’s not something I put on him. It was something revealed to me in a portrait. People often reveal themselves to me when I’m making their photograph, and Will—in his bedroom with his old, beat-up cowboy hat—revealed his sainthood to me.
Jason Thrasher
Photographer/owner at Thrasher Photo
Back in the ‘90s I used to call Will on the old land line from time to time to talk about playing a show together or getting The Olivia Tremor Control to contribute a song to a 7” or compilation.
It didn’t matter if I called him or he called me, it always went the same… I would earnestly answer my phone or say hello when he answered his and be greeted with some variation of:
“beeeeerrrrbbbbllllyyyyooouwaaaannnbbbbbboooo weweweweeeeoooooohhhhahhhhh blooop bleeeppppporggggooooowaaaaa bbbbbbbrrrrrrwwwwwzzzzzmmmmmm boop boop chhhhhssssshhhhhhhhwwwwwwooooooooo.”
Honestly, it kind of drove me crazy at the time. Calling someone on the phone was already outside of my comfort zone, and here I was trying to talk to a wall of noise.
There are so many things that I miss about Will. I miss those phone calls more than anything. I love you, Will.
Ryan Lewis
Kindercore Records, The Agenda
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